Thursday, October 2, 2008

LBIE and Hedge Assets

This sentence from the GLG investor letter (posted on the NYT website) is difficult to understand: "Our assessment of the LBIE exposure is based upon a number of assumptions (including, that amounts LBIE was required to treat for each Fund as client money and not use in the course of its business were and are, in fact, so held and will be released upon repayment by each Fund of all its debt to LBIE)."

I would have thought that, for the most part, repayment of debt to LBIE would effectively release securities held as collateral in margin accounts and NOT cash (because cash would be credited dollar for dollar and so is a wash - no incentive to repay).

If this thought is correct, that means that GLG and its brethren have contingent liabilities equal to (x) the excess of securities held as collateral over (y) borrowings from LBIE. Assuming they were leveraged to the hilt and a meaningful portion of assets were at LBIE and they are a general unsecured creditor of LBIE...